Banana farmers in several districts of Rwanda’s Southern Province are calling on authorities to provide them with improved varieties that can withstand banana bacterial wilt, a disease that continues to cause significant losses.
Farmers in Kinazi Sector, Ruhango District, are among those affected. They say the disease has reduced banana yields and warn that, without urgent intervention, banana farming could eventually disappear from the area.
One farmer said the disease had severely reduced production. Previously, a banana bunch could weigh up to 50 kilogrammes, but infected plants now produce fruit that appears to ripen prematurely while still immature.
“I used to grow bananas and harvest bunches weighing around 50 kilogrammes. But the disease has spread through our plantations. The bananas develop and then begin to look ripe while they are still immature. Even when a bunch appears firm, peeling it reveals that the fruit has turned black,” the farmer said.
Farmers say the effects of the disease are becoming increasingly evident in local markets, where banana prices have surged, in some cases nearly quadrupling, amid declining supplies.
“A bunch of bananas that used to cost Rwf500 now sells for nearly Rwf2,000,” they said.
They added that much of the bananas currently consumed in the area comes from other provinces, including the Eastern Province, further pushing up prices. Bananas that previously sold for Rwf100 to Rwf200 now cost between Rwf400 and Rwf500.
The acting director general of the Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development Board (RAB), Dr Florence Uwamahoro, told RBA that the institution was doing everything possible to develop banana varieties capable of withstanding the disease.
“The most urgent measure is to uproot infected banana plants and notify the nearest RAB staff member so that we can respond quickly and provide advice,” she said.
Dr Uwamahoro urged farmers to follow recommended disease-control measures, including removing infected plants, to prevent the disease from spreading over wider areas. She also encouraged those planning to establish new plantations to seek varieties that can withstand the disease.
She said RAB was using technology to develop new, resistant banana varieties and that the project was already being implemented.
Meanwhile, data from the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR) show that bananas remain the country’s leading crop in terms of production volume. During the 2026B agricultural season, Rwanda produced 1,231,202 tonnes of bananas, up from 1,166,247 tonnes recorded in the 2025B season.
